Open fireplace

[Nishu]

I have one. I know I asked this before but I can't find it. Sorry. =/

I've read that they don't heat at all and are mainly for prettiness or whatever- but will it work in a pinch? At all?

I'm hearing that they're predicting 8-10 inches over the next couple days for our area. The roads are already bad and schools have been out for two days. They're doing almost nothing now to clear the roads because they're just not prepared for this it seems. There are cars off the road all over the place.

So... I guess they think it's going to get worse.


I've got about 10 cubic fee t of firewood. I think I've got about 16 gallons of water. Food diapers and all that we should be good on.

So can I use this fireplace at all... or should I just make plans to pack it up and go to a warming shelter if we lose power?

Thanks in advance guys!

[Pemberleyan]

It really depends on the design, age and quality of construction of your fire place and chimney.

I wish I could send some warms temps your way. Yesterday it was 77 degrees and we wore short sleeves.

[PrairieRose]

We have an open one as well.....when we were w/o power for 2 weeks year before last, our fireplace really helped. If you have a gas stove just keep some water simmering on the stove, that really helps it feel warmer too.

[Scattymum]

we have an open fire and wonce it gets going it creates a lot of heat - i guess the heat will depend on what you are burning in it - we use an assortment of Turf, coal and wood - the wood burns quickest and not so much heat but the coal is great for burning slow and giving out alot of heat. we use it all the time in the winter

[madhen]

I've had one in the past and have to agree that it was more for looks than design. Mine had a ventilator that was supposed to blow the warm air out, and that did seem to help a bit when I used it. Maybe you could set a fan on low near it, just to move the heat into the room a bit more? I do that now with my woodstove, although that little puppy already heats up the floor it is on like nobody's business!

They also sell those reflector panels that you can put in the back of a fireplace that are supposed to help, but it is probably too late for you to get one of those for this particular situation.

[Nishu]

I did it! I did it! I finally got a lasting fire in my fireplace! That's harder than it looks!

Okay after reading a bit I don't thin my fireplace is actually open. IT seems to come in a metal box that sits within the heart, and it closes off with glass doors. There's empty space between the metal box and the stone and there's grating around it to let the air through. So I guess it's not useless.

I've got a CO detector set up in the living room but I still don't really trust the fireplace all that much. I guess if my fire is venting out ok there shouldn't be anything to worry about, right?

[Contrary Housewife]

Does your fireplace box have a chimney? I don't understand what you mean by "it's not actually open". You should be able to stick your head in and see sky up the chimney.

In a traditional fireplace most of the heat goes up the chimney, but it is possible to get a room heated with one. Growing up we were not allowed to turn the electric heat on when we got home from school, but we could burn all the wood we wanted to, to get warm. I got real good a getting a fire going quickly.

If you are expecting power outages, bring your wood in from outside now. It will light faster and burn hotter if it has had a chance to dry out. Also, stock up on the plain black-and-white newspaper pages to use as starter. Do not burn paper with colored ink.

Do you have a grate under your logs? You need an air space of a couple inches for a good fire to draw from.

If everything is working properly there should be no CO2 to worry about.

[RetiredVeryEarly]

From what you are explaining it sounds like perhaps you have an insert in your fireplace. Those are designed to get more heat from your burning than an open fireplace. The problem with an open fireplace is that it loses more heat overall than it puts into the room. But if you are about to lose power to your furnace, yes, burning in a fireplace can give you needed heat. We had our power out for 3 days once about 10 years ago, our fireplace saved my butt. That plus the oil lamp hubby's Grandpa had given us. Bright enough to read by, with candles we needed 3 of them to get enough light to read by.

We have a wood stove in our current home. Except for really cold days way below freezing it provides all the heat needed for our whole house. We just use our gas furnace as a backup.

[Nishu]

Yes that's it- it looks like this.




You can't see up the chimney out the sky... it's all crooked.